Arsenal have agreed for a fee for FC Basel midfielder Mohamed Elneny.

That’s according to the Mirror, just days after local media in Switzerland claimed a deal was in the pipeline, with the 23-year-old midfielder set to undergo a medical.

Francis Coquelin is out for the next couple of months, while Santi Cazorla faces even longer sidelined and Mikel Arteta continuous to be set back by muscle issues. That makes a midfield signing absolutely necessary in January, and Elneny appears to be that man.

The Egypt international would arrive for a fee of around £5m, and has some European experience having signed for Basel in 2013. Since then he has played 37 Europa League and Champions League games (including qualifiers). With the Swiss side only in the Europa League this season, Elneny would be available for Arsenal’s Champions League matches against Barcelona in February and March.

The report says that a transfer is pending an agreement on personal terms and a medical, but there are unlikely to be any complications on either front so player, who already has 39 Egypt caps to his name, would become an Arsenal player this month.

Should this happen, it may well happen quickly and we may be able to see a debut at the Emirates Stadium as soon as 10th January, when the Gunners host Sunderland in the FA Cup third round.